Chrome's Daughter
by AmyFawkes
Summary: Hello. This is my life, or what it is now. My name is Lock M. Kurodo and I've been sent back in the past to find somebody by the name of Tsunayoshi Sawada. He's missing in my time. In the end, why should I care?
1. Chrome's Daughter

Chrome's Daughter

By AmyFawkes

Author's note: I do make fun of Mukuro way too much, so excuse all of the name calling and sarcasm towards him. I love him and he's my favorite character, so it can't be helped ;D Anyways, the title is really irrelevant to the actual story. This story is simply in response to Blockhed13's one-shot story called "Chrome's Brother", so his character Kumoru Dokuro is also included in this.

Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! or Kumoru Dokuro.

"Why?" I asked. "Why me?" I pulled at the green skirt of the Kokuyou Academy School's uniform. It was too short for my tastes. What the hell was he thinking? It didn't even look good on me.

He simply smiled. "Because you're the only one who can do it."

"Why?" I asked again. "Why can't you do it?"

"I exist in the past. Time travelling would be foolish of me. If I were to go to the past, I could erase my past self's existence, thus erasing myself and creating a paradox." He started fixing my hair to the best of his ability, but it wouldn't stop drooping to the right side.

"I don't know him. This Tsunayoshi Sawada. Why in all the seven realms of hell should I give a damn about him? I never wanted anything to do with mafia anyways." I scowled in disapproval.

"I know. But he's missing in this age and we need to find him. There have been no leads on the mystery of his disappearance and so I figured to look in the past – to find out if there could be any reason why he left." He handed me a pair of glasses.

I put on the glasses. They didn't do anything for my vision. He said it was to help me see through illusions. "Who is he for you to even care?"

He paused. ". . . Somebody."

I frowned. I didn't like it when people kept secrets from me. "Fine. What about that skull person you told me about? How come I've never seen her?"

"What, Chrome? Oh, she doesn't exist anymore." A twisted smile seemed to crawl across his face.

"What'd you do, kill her?" I asked incredulously, already bored of the situation. All of this seemed like one big lie.

"No. Chrome Dokuro simply does not exist in this time anymore. She dropped out of the whole mafia ordeal." He handed me my katars. They were three-pronged trident tops, except without the whole fancy stick part. They were new and silver, just waiting to be used.

"So Chrome Dokuro drops out and you pull me into all this?" I asked using the same tone as before.

"Yep." He said with a chipper smile, one that made me think that he didn't really give a crap about this Chrome girl anyways.

"Didn't you have somebody else to do this for you? What was it… Geeko Gecko?" I said sarcastically.

He laughed. "Kufufu… Guido Greco. He disappeared with Chrome."

"What'd they do, run away and get married to each other like Romeo and Juliet?" I rolled my eyes.

He laughed again and didn't answer my question. "Are you ready?"

I frowned. I didn't like it when people ignored me and didn't answer my questions. Even worse, he countered me with another question. Oh joy.

"Yeah." I mumbled. I got up from my chair and smoothed out my skirt.

The symbol in his right eye spun and changed from the Japanese character of "six" to the one I knew as "seven."

"Who should I look for first? You or that Tsunayoshi Sawada?"

"Whoever you happen to come upon first." He said with that creepy grin of his. "You were trained to protect all those around you, no matter who it is. I need you to find and protect him."

"What was your name again?" I asked rudely, ignoring what he just said completely.

"Kufufu… My name is Mukuro Rokudo."

Then he was gone.

* * *

><p>"Chrome?"<p>

I turned around like an idiot. "What?"

"Ah…" The boy stared at me and I stared back. We were like two staring idiots. He looked just like me. Gosh, Mukuro must have some weird fetish with these stupid uniforms and this weirder hairdo.

"You're not Chrome." He said rather dumbly.

"No. Duh. Are you Mukuro Rokudo?" Huh. He looked really different than he did in my time.

"Um. No." He said in an irritated tone. It seemed like he didn't like being mistaken for Mukuro.

"Well. Are you Guido Gecko then?"

"… Who?" He frowned.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked, already tired of guessing. I was hoping that this wasn't Chrome.

"My name is Kumoru Dokuro." He said with a bow, formally introducing himself.

Dokuro… that's Chrome's last name. That meant skull. Kumoru meant cloudy weather…. Put together that would be translated as Cloudy Skull but alternatively it would be… "Dim Skull?" My mouth twisted into a frown.

"Wha—" He fumbled for his words somewhat clumsily. He scowled at my interpretation of his name.

"Kufufu, what do we have here?"

The man with that stupid laugh emerged from the shadows with that even stupider grin of his. There he was – certainly that was the Mukuro Rokudo I was told about.

Except he was about twenty years younger than he was supposed to be. That couldn't be good.

There was a girl behind him. She was tiny and shying away and hiding behind the pedo-faced man. Her cheeks were rosy and there was a skull eye patch over her right eye, just like that dim skulled boy. Her other eye was big and a brilliant violet color, but it almost looked hollowed out. Her arms were hugged tightly around a black bag that she held in front of her chest. She was cute. She didn't seem like the type of person who'd be part of the mafia at all, especially not Mukuro's family. But she was wearing that stupid Kokuyou uniform, so perhaps she was dragged into it just as I was. This must have been Chrome Dokuro.

"I-I don't know…" The dim skulled boy said under his breath, more than obviously annoyed by my presence.

The girl looked at me with her one eye. "She looks like us…" She mumbled, unsure if she was intimidated by me or not.

Mukuro smiled. "What's your name?"

I smiled. "My name is Lock M. Cold." I said on the spot. Wow. Why didn't I decide my name beforehand? Where did that name come from?

"R-Roku Mukuro…do?" The girl mumbled as she tried and failed to pronounce my name.

"Ah… no. Just… call me Lock." I replied.

"Well then," Mukuro spoke, "Welcome to Kokuyou Land, Lock Kurodo." I couldn't take them really seriously when they couldn't even pronounce my name right.

It was then that I realized where I was – a run-down, dirty, filthy, dark, dim and barely tolerable old shack. This was the place that that great "King of Hell," Mukuro Rokudo lived in the past? Hell indeed. I'd heard about it but I never imagined that his little kingdom would be this bad.

"What are you doing here?" A quiet voice behind me spoke up.

"Who the hell is she?" A much rasher voice shouted out obnoxiously.

I spun around quickly, alarmed by the two new voices. There was a blonde guy who stood out among us all and certainly looked just as dirty as the place we stood in. He had a scar running across his nose and he was baring his fang-like teeth. The other one beside him looked much more calm, darker, and surely more sophisticated and cleaner. He had neatly trimmed dark hair and a surprisingly white hat. In his hand he held a red yo-yo with a K on the face of it. They were the only two people here without that obnoxious pineapple hairdo.

I recognized those two as those nasty old men who kidnapped me and dragged me into the cruel life of Mukuro's mafia. They looked resentful to see me, just as they did in my time when they first broke into my house to knock me out.

I grinned at them – a hateful grin it was, but nonetheless a mischievous one – and slyly said, "My name is Lock. I…" I paused, wondering if it was okay to say why I was there. After all, they did look about ready to eat me since I did trespass onto their home, just as they had done to mine a couple decades from now. What harm could it be if gave them their answers? I'm sure the King of Hell had his questions as well.

"My name is Lock Kurodo," I repeated, letting their mispronunciation become my name, "And I come from the future."

That's right. My name is Lock M. Kurodo and, as I'm soon to find out, I'm about thirty years off course.


	2. Lock Kurodo

Chapter 2: Lock Kurudo

"Why?" Came the firm voice of a woman, "Why did you have to choose her?" She put away the coat hanger with disapproval.

Mukuro sighed. He didn't want to explain it all again. "I already told you. She's the only one who can do it."

"I wanted a normal life. I wanted kids who didn't have to suffer what I went through. You know that, Mukuro-sama. Why did you have to drag her into it?" She scolded him. "You could have sent the eleventh Vongola boss back! You could have sent somebody else! You know, you didn't even have to send anybody back! Why? Why, above everyone, my daughter!"

"I'm sorry, my little Chrome." He apologized, but he didn't sound too sincere about it.

"I'm not Chrome anymore." She said, seemingly changing the subject. "Chrome doesn't exist anymore."

"Look, what would you have done? Tsuna is gone. We have no idea why." Mukuro said with a more concerned tone of voice.

She sighed. "I know you're worried about her too, not only Tsuna. So why did you drag her into the mafia? Why couldn't you let her grow up to be normal? She wouldn't have to get hurt. She wouldn't need to be involved."

"Because I'm worried about Tsuna too!" he exclaimed. "Without him, I wouldn't be the me I am today. So I wanted to do my best to help him here, to find him and bring him home."

"I know! I know he's gone and I know you're worried! But it's not like looking in the past would help us anyways! If there was a reason he left, wouldn't we know? You didn't need to drag her into it! Lock Kurodo does not need to exist!" she said, conflicted between the issue of her missing former boss or the issue of having her daughter become what she used to be.

There was a simple silence.

Mukuro got up and turned around, heading for the door.

"Yes, she does."

He left without another word.

* * *

><p>"Chrome. My name is Chrome Dokuro." She said with a smile.<p>

"N-nice to meet you Chrome." I said nervously, trying to force a smile but more than obviously failing. She looked at me innocently.

Her stomach was gone. There was nothing there holding her up. The place where there normally would be a stomach was rotting skin and bones with no meat in between. How was she still standing! Or smiling at that. She looked so damn happy. It made no sense. And it was absolutely gross. Absolutely disgusting, repulsive, freaky, grotesque, and so not cute.

She looked at me. "I-is there something wrong? Do you need water?" she asked, trying to be a good host. She looked concerned for me, despite the fact that I was a total stranger.

"N-no, that's okay. I'm fine." I lied.

"You sure? You've been looking at us kinda weirdly." Said her brother, Kumoru, dumbly.

"I've been looking at all of you kinda weirdly." I said sarcastically.

"W-why? A-are we weird to you?" Chrome said, worried that she was a freak to me.

"No, no. You're not too weird." I said in lame attempts to make her feel better.

"Too weird? The hell does that mean?" Kumoru asked.

"Figure it out, dimskull." I said. He frowned at me.

"Is there something wrong, little Lock?" Mukuro asked, coming up behind us with some food.

"No, it's nothing. I think I'm just… uh, seeing things." I mumbled.

In reality, I was seeing _through_ things. I didn't find this out until later, but those glasses that Mukuro gave me to see through illusions? I was staring straight through Chrome's stomach. It's interesting and kind of scary too.

Chrome smiled as Mukuro came in. "Oh, thank you, Mukuro-sama!" she smiled as she took a rice bun from the plate he put down. She chewed on it happily. I was confused. She had no stomach and yet she was still chewing food? This was way too bewildering. Is this what the mafia was like? I really didn't want to be a part of it now.

"Yummy!" Chrome said as she swallowed the food, wherever it went. "You should try some, Kurodo-chan!" she said, handing a bun to me.

I took it and tried some. It was surprisingly good and delicious. "Wow! This is good!" I said.

Mukuro smiled. "Thank you." He said, sitting down next to us. "So, what is the future like?" he asked, trying to stir up some weird sort of conversation.

"Not telling." I said as I took another bite of the rice bun. He seemed to frown in disapproval. "It'd be stepping on butterflies. I'd change the future if I told you what it was like, wouldn't I?"

"N-no… actually…" Chrome mumbled. I looked at her. How could she possibly know anything about time travel..? She returned my look. "I don't think it would be that bad. I mean, I've actually been to the future before."

I looked surprised. "Oh? Tell me about it, if you will."

"Well, it was just ten years in the future but…" She started. "I was there with the other Vongola guardians and I had to fight this really bad guy. But I learned a lot of stuff and it wasn't a bad thing to know about the future, I don't think."

"Wait." I said. "Vongola guardians?"

"Hm?" Chrome said. "Oh… the Vongola. That's the family Mukuro and I are guardians of."

"So wait… you know Tsunayoshi Sawada?" I asked. Maybe I could find him, that Tsunayoshi Sawada that Mukuro sent me back for.

"Boss?" Chrome asked. "Yeah… why?"

"Do you know where he is?" I asked, a little bit too eager for my own good.

"…Why do you know him?" Mukuro asked, his suspicions of me rising.

"It was my mission to come back to the past and find him." I said bluntly, and maybe a little bit demanding. I stood up, almost ready to go. "If you know, tell me where he is."

"W-why?" Chrome asked, frightened. "A-are you going to kill him!"

Where the hell did she get that idea? "No. I need to find him."

"It was your mission to find him, yet you're sitting here with us? Why is that?" Dimskull asked, trying to piece everything together.

"Why? I'm his vessel." I pointed rather accusingly at Mukuro. The group looked surprised.

"My vessel?" Mukuro asked, a sly smile crawling across his face.

"From the future, that is." I added on. For good measure, I suppose.

"Really now?" He stood up as well.

"Try me." I said tauntingly.

And he did. There was a rush; a killer intent and a dark aura invading my head. This aura was a lot scarier than the Mukuro of the future's. It was more murderous. Mukuro looked surprised that he actually successfully possessed me, a stranger from the future. And he was trying to dig around to find out what this future was like, I could tell.

Unfortunately for him, my mind was _locked_. Sealed. Impenetrable by the King of Hell. I wasn't going to let him see the memories of what did not yet exist. I wasn't going to let him stay in my head either. I pushed him out.

Mukuro was surprised again, having never been pushed out of somebody's head. A smile ran across his face again. "So this means I exist in the future?"

"Perhaps." I said mysteriously. "Or perhaps you're simply just an illusion."

"You're scared." He stated. I looked at him, expecting him to explain how he came to that conclusion. He continued. "I felt your fear. You're scared of me?"

"No." I said sharply. "It's nonsense to be scared of you. In reality, I know _you_ are the scared one."

Mukuro looked at me with a face that doubted my words. "I'm not scared of anything."

I laughed, just like Mukuro would. "Kufufu, not scared of anything? Nonsense. Everybody is scared of something, or someone. You, though, you're a scared little boy whose known nothing but evil. You've lived your life in fear; of being caught by Vendice, or in constant worry that your beloved family here has been hurt, or simply being alone forever. You knew nothing but fear growing up, and you still do."

Mukuro cringed. "Y-you…" He was almost speechless.

"You're so afraid of the world that your goal was to annihilate the thing you feared and hated the most – mafia. Am I right?" I said, with a hint of evil and dominance.

At this point there was something else that was speaking. It was something that was not me, but at the same time, something that was me. This was Lock Kurodo speaking.

Mukuro frowned. "I…" There was a strong killer intent being shot at me. The symbol of "six" in his eye started to spin. He was reaching for his knife.

"He lives in Namimori!" Chrome shouted out, desperate to change the subject. We both looked at her. The symbol in Mukuro's eye stopped spinning.

"What?" I said, a little dumbfounded.

"Boss." Chrome replied. "Boss lives in Namimori town, which is south of here. If you walk it should take maybe half an hour. You can find him at his school, Namimori Middle."

"Thank you." I said, finding her outburst rather sudden and random, but whatever worked. I turned around. "I'll see you all later, perhaps."

"B-bye…" Chrome said, as she waved goodbye to me. Mukuro was a little bit frustrated with me for I had put him down in front of his family. Was that really what Lock Kurodo was like? She was really mean.

I left the dump known as Kokuyou land. I really wondered if I would come back or not.

I never did find out why Chrome's stomach was so freaky and weird. I wondered what was up with that. Maybe I'd find out later.

So now, onward to Namimori.


	3. The Skylark

Chapter 3: The Skylark

There was a silence.

Mukuro broke that peaceful quiet, like throwing down a glass and watching it shatter. "Why did you do that?" He said in a threatening tone to the girl with only one eye. She flinched and frowned guiltily.

"I-I'm sorry, Mukuro-sama…." she mumbled. "It's just that… I… I… uh… I don't… I think…." She couldn't seem to find the right words. Mukuro stared at her anxiously, patiently waiting for a reply.

There was another deadly silence, a long pause.

"She… she's somebody who needs to be here." The girl said finally, finding no better words.

Mukuro scowled at her. "What do you mean?"

"She's… I don't know… important. To me, at least."

"You've only just met her." He didn't seem to understand how I could have been of much any importance to any of them.

"I know that. But at the same time, it's probably not the first time she's met me." Chrome said slowly, as if she didn't even understand herself.

"She's not needed here." Mukuro said as he stood up. "She's not even supposed to be here. She's from the future, who knows what she's even trying to do? We don't need her here. One shouldn't mess with the boundaries of time, however it is done. Lock Kurodo does not need to exist."

Chrome stood up as well and headed for the door, walking past Mukuro. Mukuro's gaze followed her.

She looked back at him.

"Yes, she does."

She left without another word.

* * *

><p>"She said that I could find him at his school, didn't she?" I mumbled to myself, walking southward from Kokuyou land. What were the chances that I'd even run into him? I didn't even know what he looked like.<p>

Well, maybe he was a great guy. Mukuro of my time always said that he was a great boss and leader, and that he was really powerful but at the same time nice. He was probably muscular and strong or something. Maybe he was even intimidating for the King of Hell to submit to. That wouldn't be too hard to find, would it?

I stopped. The sign in front of me read "Namimori High School." That wasn't very hard to find.

But it looked completely abandoned. Was there no school today? I didn't see anybody. Curious, I slipped through the gates and peered around.

"Trespassers aren't allowed." A voice spoke up suddenly. It was deep, mature, and quite intimidating. There was a negative, unpleasant aura.

I almost dared not to turn around. Unfortunately, I did.

Upon me stood a man who was probably a half foot taller than me. He had dark hair and narrow eyes which pierced through the soul. The man had a frown upon his face, more than obviously unsatisfied with the fact that I stood there.

"What?" I asked stupidly.

"Trespassers aren't allowed on school grounds." He repeated. He took out steel tonfas and readied himself for battle. "I'll bite you to death."

I frowned at the rather sudden engagement in battle. "Well, sorry. What are you, a police man?" I said. He must have been, right? Police usually carry tonfas. "I just lost my way."

He seemed unhappy that I was not cowering in fear or something of the sort. I had grown up that way. I was told never to show my fear. I learned not to fear anything because fear was an enemy not worth fighting. I was taught that fear was only a state of mind. Only a state of mind – only but a simple illusion.

"Get out." He said. He looked over me with disgust. "Mukuro Rokudo." He charged toward me violently, striking with his tonfa.

"Nonsense." I said, blocking the tonfa with a quick movement of my arm. He looked surprised that I didn't even flinch. It hurt, but I wasn't going to show him. "I am not Mukuro Rokudo."

He growled as he jumped back, only to charge at me again. I continued to defend myself. If there was one thing I didn't want, it was to make an enemy on my first day in the past.

"Mukuro Rokudo is an idiot. Why in all hell would I be him?" What I really wanted to ask was, "Why in all hell would he be wearing a skirt?" I couldn't tell if he thought that I was actually Mukuro or if he thought that Mukuro was possessing me.

He stopped, wondering why I would say a thing like that if I were actually him. In an instant I hit him to the ground.

He looked at me surprised. The katars on my hands were now visible, sporting Mukuro's signature three-pronged spearhead. My weapon seemed to make his spite towards me grow.

"My name is Lock Kurodo."

He recovered quickly but was wobbly as he stood up. He didn't seem to understand from the look on his face.

My back was turned to him. He looked up only to find himself in a field of sakura trees.

He grunted. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. He looked like he didn't understand what was happening or how I knew what he was weak against.

Really, I didn't understand how he was weak against flowers. A little bit absurd in my opinion. Was he allergic? The only reason the cherry blossom trees appeared was that I created an illusion of his fear, unbeknownst to me at the time.

So here I was thinking, _He's afraid of little pink flowers? Wuss._ I don't know if I'd regret that thought or not, though.

He lunged towards me weakly, but I sidestepped and avoided his attack.

"Are you Tsunayoshi Sawada?" I asked monotonously. I came to the conclusion to ask him such a question for he was what I presumed this Tsunayoshi to be — strong, intimidating, and powerful.

He frowned. "My name is Hibari Kyoya."

"Skylark, eh?" I responded. I was disappointed. This wasn't Tsunayoshi Sawada? Another failed attempt to find him.

He scowled. "I'll bite you to death." He said, still threatening despite his weak state. He seemed to like saying that phrase.

"Whatever." I said ignorantly. "If you are not Tsunayoshi Sawada, I have no business here. I will leave if you very so wish it."

He lunged toward me again to attack, but I hit him back down to the ground. He growled at me. I ignored it. If this wasn't who I was looking for, there was no reason for me to stay. I turned and left him on the floor.

At least I didn't leave him as a bloody mess.

* * *

><p>"Ehh! Somebody beat up Hibari-san!" The boy with spiky hair exclaimed, alarmed by the skylark's defeat. He stared at the baby in disbelief. "What do you mean, Reborn?"<p>

"I mean that there might be a new enemy coming for the Vongola." The hitman replied. "From the information I have received, this person was looking for you, Tsuna."

"F-for me!" He shivered. "Why!"

"I don't know, but it's said that this person was powerful. Their name is Lock Kurodo. They knew of Hibari's weakness to sakura flowers. There's a high chance that this person could be related to Mukuro Rokudo as well."

"Related to… Mukuro? How?" he was rather dumbfounded. "If it were somebody related to Mukuro, then why would they be attacking us?"

"I don't know yet. They were wearing a Kokuyou uniform. I believe they also used illusions to create the sakura trees."

"Eeek… this person… he sounds scary." Tsuna frowned. "What do we do?"

"You're the boss, you're supposed to know." Reborn responded. "If they're looking for you, they might come here next." The doorbell rang.

"Eek!" Tsuna squealed, alarmed. He took a breath and calmed himself. "D-don't scare me like that, Reborn. They couldn't possibly know where I lived, right?" Tsuna smiled nervously as he stood up to go answer the door.

"Who knows, that might be them." Reborn said tauntingly with a sly smile, making Tsuna shiver. The boy rushed off to go answer the door.

He opened it rather slowly and cautiously.

Chrome looked at him with a big curious eye. He let out a breath. "Ahh~ it's just you, Chrome."

"…did you think I was somebody else?" Chrome asked innocently. She didn't question what took him such a long time to answer the door.

"No, it's nothing. Sorry for making you wait. Do you want to come in?" Tsuna asked politely.

"Oh, I suppose so." Chrome said as she wandered inside his house. "You have a nice little home." She commented, for it was the first time she had been there.

"Thanks, I guess. You can sit there." He said as he was getting her some water. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Well, actually, I came to talk to you about this kid named Lock…" she started.

Tsuna flinched, spilling the pitcher of water all over himself. "Wh-what!"

"A-are you okay?" Chrome stood up. "You spilled water all over yourself..!"

"Yeah, I'm okay… but what did you say? Do you know this Lock Kurodo kid!" Tsuna asked, alarmed.

"Oh, you're going to get sick if you keep that on, Boss!" Chrome said, concerned for him and ignoring his question. "You should go change right now!"

"No, Chrome, it's fine…"

"Oh, I insist! I don't want you to get sick or anything! I think I might have an extra male's uniform in here if you need it…" Chrome started looking through her bag.

"No, it's fine! This is my house, I have a change of clothes. If you want me to change then I'll change…"

She nodded with a small smile. "I'll wait here." She sat back down as Tsuna made his way upstairs to his room.

It was only a few moments after that a kid dressed as a cow came running downstairs holding a pair of pants, laughing his head off.

"L-Lambo! Give me back my pants!" Tsuna cried as he chased the kid downstairs in his boxers. He tripped and fell, hitting his face on the floor. The kid named Lambo laughed and stuck his tongue out at Tsuna.

"Haha! You can't catch me!" he taunted. Tsuna growled as he struggled to get up and continue his pursuit of the child.

Chrome watched curiously as the boy and the cow-child ran outside in what looked like a game of tag. She followed them out the door.

"Lambo! I'm serious, give me back my pants!" Tsuna shouted desperately, frantically chasing after the mischievous child.

"Bleeeeh!" the cow taunted once more. A small smile appeared on Chrome's face as she was distracted watching the boys run by. Chrome couldn't decide if she should help her poor boss steal his pants back from the child or just watch for some weird form of sadistic amusement.

They probably didn't notice me walking up to the household.

"Sawada resident…?" I looked at the plate curiously. Was this it? Was this where the great Tsunayoshi Sawada lived? I looked up from the plate, seeing the boy with spiky hair running around in just a shirt and boxers and the child dressed as a cow running around like idiots. I didn't see Chrome standing by the side being a spectator. Was this really it?

"You can't catch me!~" the child hollered, running straight past me. My eyes followed him, but then they were directed back towards the boy with untamed hair. He was running towards me but managed to stop himself before he crashed into me. I gave him a look. What a weirdo. Who has the dignity to run around without any pants on?

Tsuna had come to a stop in front of me. "Ahh, I'm so sorry!" he apologized. I honestly didn't understand what he was apologizing for, but whatever worked.

I raised an eyebrow. "It's okay, I guess."

Tsuna looked me up and down. He seemed alarmed. "A Kokuyou uniform..?" Some sort of suspicion seemed to brew within the boy.

"Yes." I answered. "And?"

He also seemed to notice my hair and I could see in his eye that he thought something was wrong. "Who..?"

"Kurodo-chan!" Chrome exclaimed. I looked up, seeing the girl with an eye patch standing behind the boy. I didn't expect to see her.

"Ku- Kurodo-chan!" Tsuna exclaimed. He was surprised that Chrome had called me such a familiar name, and the fact that my name was Kurodo had gotten him alarmed. "Y-you..!"

I looked at him with a scowl. His frantic behavior and that accusing tone of voice disgusted me.

By now the child who had stolen his pants had become bored because Tsuna had stopped chasing him. "Tsuna!" he whined. "Play with me!"

Tsuna's attention went to the kid again. "Wh—no! Give me back my pants first!"

"No!" Lambo screamed. I turned to see the kid reaching into his afro and pulling out what appeared to be a grenade. "Play with me!" he screamed again tossing the grenade towards the lot of us.

"Eek! Lambo!" Tsuna looked like he wanted to hide.

It took me a moment to register that it was an actual grenade the child had thrown. Instantly, I hit it back towards the kid, away from us at least. Everyone looked alarmed, the cow most of all, and he screamed as the grenade had exploded in front of his face.

"Uh—Lambo!" Tsuna was worried for the child, but then he looked at me. "Who are you!"

"My name is Lock Kurodo."


	4. The Tenth

Chapter 4: The Tenth

"My name is Lock Kurodo." I said, the shock appearing on Tsuna's face.

"Y-you're Lock Kurodo!" Tsuna asked. He didn't seem to expect that it would be a girl like me or a girl at all.

"Yes." I answered simply. I was wondering how he knew my name, or why he feared it at all.

Tsuna frowned and backed away. "N-no way…" He glanced at Chrome. Chrome didn't seem to find any words to say.

"Why do you fear my name?" I asked. "Who are you?"

"You're the one who beat up Hibari-san, aren't you?" the boy responded.

"Hn? The skylark? Why yes. What of it?" I asked. God, news really did travel fast, did it?

Tsuna gulped in fear. He looked like he was at a loss for words.

"Answer my question, now." I demanded. "Why do you fear me? Who are you?"

I wasn't looking to be the bad guy, but somehow I had already become an enemy to that skylark and this random wimpy kid was scared of me. This is what it was like being in the mafia, wasn't it? Being the bad guy? I hated it. I wanted nothing to do with it, and here I was; Lock M. Kurodo, feared by name.

"Y-you beat up Hibari-san!" He repeated himself.

"Who are you?" I demanded, a little bit more fiercely. I was getting tired of all of this skylark nonsense. What was so great about him?

"M-me? My name is Tsunayoshi Sawada…" he said quietly.

I was really hoping I could have taken this more seriously. _This_ was Tsunayoshi Sawada? The person who Mukuro said was a great leader, strong, brave, and the one person that Mukuro listens to? This was the tenth boss of the Vongola Family? This was the person I was sent back to find? _This!_ This person was… absolutely lame! He was wimpy, short, had a really squeaky voice, a certainly looked far from what I was told about him! And above everything… he had a little kid steal his pants and he was running around in his boxers.

That's it. My image of Tsunayoshi Sawada has been totally ruined.

In what way, I wondered, did he make such a great boss? Why did Mukuro admire him so much? This made so little sense to me.

I scowled. "You're Tsunayoshi Sawada?"

Tsuna looked alarmed that I knew his name. Somehow I felt like a hypocrite, using the same sort of accusing voice he used with my name.

"You? You're Tsunayoshi Sawada?" I asked again in disgust.

He seemed scared to answer. "Y-yes?" he answered slowly.

"You don't seem like half the person I was told you were." I said rather darkly as I turned around. "You are not worth protecting." I started to make my leave.

Tsuna was dumbfounded. He didn't understand. He thought I was there to hurt him.

"Not worth protecting!" a rash voice shouted out. "You take that back!"

I looked up. In front of me stood a man dressed in punkish attire, and he had short silver hair that was parted down the middle. In his mouth he had a cigarette and had dynamite withdrawn and in his hand, ready to throw at me.

"Who are you?" I asked. I frowned at this obstacle.

"That's none of your business," he growled. "Take that back now!"

I scowled. "No. Why don't you tell me your name?"

He growled and flung the dynamite towards me instead of answering. I really hated it when people didn't answer my questions. I hit the dynamite back towards the man, just like I had done with the little kid. He was better than the kid though and jumped out of the way before it blasted him.

"Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna cried out, not being able to see the silver-haired boy behind the thick black smoke.

"I'm okay, tenth!" the boy called Gokudera shouted out. Tsuna didn't seem to stop worrying. The next thing I knew was that bombs were flying at me again, being thrown out from the wall of smoke. I jumped out of the way next to that child dressed like a cow. Just then I noticed him crying.

So many things were happening at one time that I got a little bit confused. There were bombs flying towards me, and because I dodged them they exploded on Tsuna. That Gokudera person panicked and rushed over and was yelling in the kid's ear asking if he was okay. The weirdest thing was that the kid next to me started pulling out a giant bazooka from his hair and pointing it at himself. Just because Tsuna didn't want to play with him doesn't give him a reason to go and commit suicide with a giant bazooka, does it? How did he even survive the grenade?

Well, he was just about to pull the trigger. "Hey, kid, stop that!" I shouted out, knocking the bazooka out of his hand so that the kid wouldn't shoot himself.

He didn't shoot himself, which was good. He did manage to pull the trigger though and so a bullet went flying from out of the bazooka and flew straight toward Gokudera. It impacted him and – this was one of the weirdest parts – it exploded in pink smoke.

"E-eek! Gokudera-kun got shot with the ten-year-bazooka!" Tsuna cried out.

"Ten-year-bazooka..?" I asked. Tsuna didn't seem too worried that the Gokudera kid just got shot. That confused me.

The smoke cleared. It seemed like the same boy who stood in his place, except more grown up. He was wearing a suit with a red shirt, his hair was shorter, and he was certainly taller. He looked more sophisticated, that's for sure. The thing is he looked a little sillier than the younger looking Gokudera, since there was cat on his shoulder scratching at his face. The cat had a really long tail and it looked infuriated. Flames were even coming out of its ears too. It must have been really angry.

Actually, something about that cat… it was… familiar? I recognized it… I just couldn't exactly put my finger on where I recognized it from…

"Ah…?" Gokudera had said, pulling the cat off of his face and hold it far from him. It clawed furiously toward him but couldn't reach the man.

"Ahh! It's adult Gokudera!" Tsuna pointed out.

"Oh, tenth!" The tone of voice he used when he referred to Tsuna as the tenth didn't seem to change at all. "It's nice to see you again!"

"Y-yeah, I guess." Tsuna smiled.

"Ten-year-bazooka?" I asked again, this time a little bit louder so that I could be heard.

"Ah…" Gokudera looked at me, some hint of spite in his eyes. "Lock?"

I looked at him. Why did he call me so familiarly? Whatever. "What's the ten-year-bazooka?" I asked.

"Oh… the ten-year-bazooka is a bazooka that can switch you and your ten-year-later self for five minutes." Tsuna explained.

So that kid wasn't going to commit suicide in the end? Huh.

I actually found this quite fascinating. Being able to time travel to the future? Or rather, being able to time travel backwards to the past, during a time where you still exist? Mukuro had said he couldn't be sent back because he could have erased his existence in time. It was amazing! And it didn't even use the realm of time either; it used machinery. It used some sort of algorithm to send the past self to the future while at the exact moment sending the future self to the past so that there would be no interference and that no selves would be erased, rather just switched..! It was…

"Amazing!" I exclaimed, a little bit too enthusiastic for my own good. Tsuna seemed alarm at my sudden upbeat outburst. "Wait, so that cow kid, he has this device that allows people to time travel! That's absolutely amazing! It's incredible! Did he make it himself?"

"N-no… his family made it." Tsuna stuttered, still quite alarmed at everything that was happening.

"Is this the first time you've been here, back to the past, Lock?" Gokudera interrupted my little moment of astonishment.

"Eh? To the past? What are you talking about, Gokudera?" Tsuna asked, confused.

I looked at the silver-haired man with a questioning look on my face. I didn't remember telling them that I was from the future just yet, but the man was from ten years from this point in time, so maybe he knew by then. I still didn't understand who he was, so something in me decided not to answer him, or wait for him to explain his question further.

He seemed to get my message. I felt like I had telepathic powers. Which I don't, by the way, I just felt like it. "From the looks of it, you don't seem to know any of us here, and you look kind of… lost, I guess. Is this your very first trip to this time era?"

I paused, in thought. I suppose it was okay to tell him. What was the harm anyways? "Yeah. This is my very first time here." I answered.

"I see." Gokudera said intelligently. "Well, I'm pretty sure you won't find what you're looking for if I remember correctly. Not in this time, anyways. I think you should just-!" He was interrupted by his cat loudly growling at him and scratching him in the face.

What did he mean I wouldn't find what I'm looking for? I found Tsunayoshi Sawada but he was a total disappointment. He wasn't making much any sense to me.

"Uri! Stop it!" He commanded the cat, but it just roared into his face even louder.

Uri? That name..! I recognized it! That was the name of the cat one of my uncles owned… that cat never really liked him and always tried to scratch him or eat him. It had spots like a leopard and always seemed angry, and its name was Uri. There was no mistake that the Uri with Gokudera and the Uri that my uncle owned was the same cat.

But how? Maybe the one my uncle owned was this Uri's daughter? Or was it the same cat? Unless… were my uncle and Gokudera were the same person? That couldn't be… my uncle didn't go around toting bombs and throwing them at strangers. And my uncle didn't have silver hair. He looked like a normal person with black hair. But the face… the face was the same. But it still didn't make sense no matter how I pieced it together. Maybe my uncle was Gokudera's son and he inherited Uri from Gokudera? Come to think of it, what time and what year was it? I hadn't thought to ask before, but somehow everything was coming together in one big jumbled jigsaw puzzle.

"Hey," I turned to Tsuna, who was confused out of his wits. "What year is it?"

Tsuna looked at me with a puzzled face. "It's 2005." He answered me.

It was… 2005!

Crap. I'm probably 30 years back from where I'm from.

This… this couldn't be right. Not at all.


	5. Mistakes

Chapter 5: Mistakes

"U-uh… is there something wrong?" Tsuna asked. He could probably tell that I was freaking out.

This wasn't right! This was 2005? I'm from about thirty years in the future! No, no, that wasn't right at all. If Mukuro wanted to send me back to find out why this Tsunayoshi Sawada was gone, would he really send me back this far? Maybe he made a mistake. Maybe Gokudera was right when he said I wouldn't find what I was looking for. Nothing was making sense. I was slowly realizing how confused I was at that moment.

I took a breath. "Uh… Gokudera, was it?" I asked the silver-haired man. His attention was directed towards me and he nodded. "What were you saying earlier? You said… that I wouldn't find what I was looking for. And then you didn't finish your sentence. What were you going to say?"

Gokudera paused. "I was going to tell you that you should probably just go home," he said.

"Go home?" I was considering the idea.

"Yeah." He responded. I nodded. If I was in the entirely wrong time era, I should go home.

"Thanks." I said. "So perhaps, I'll take my leave now." I turned around and started to walk away.

Tsuna was confused. "Uh… bye?" He paused. He thought that I was still dangerous or a threat, so he was quite bewildered at everything that was happening.

I abruptly turned back. "Wait." I said. "Gokudera, your cat's name is Uri, right?"

"Hn?" He perked up. "Yes. What of it?"

"I… I just feel like I…." I was interrupted in the middle of my sentence.

The man exploded in pink smoke again, this time, the figure appearing when the smoke cleared was that of the younger Gokudera. I paused, staring in awe, wondering what had just happened.

"Ah… I'm back?" Gokudera examined his surroundings. He seemed pleased to be back in his current times, but once he laid his eyes upon me, his eyes narrowed into an intense glare.

I realized that the effects of the cow child's "ten-year-bazooka" gadget had worn off, and the punk had reverted back to his teenage self.

"What are you still doing here? Leave the tenth alone!" he exclaimed, obviously unsatisfied with my presence.

I groaned. He was really getting on my nerves, but something about him really bugged me. After seeing his future self, and his cat Uri, I couldn't help but think there was some weird relationship with Gokudera here and my uncle in my time.

"I _said_, leave!" he shouted, tossing several dynamite at me. I have to say that was probably the worst way of trying to get me to leave. Naturally, I retaliated and hit the bombs back.

Somehow, he exploded in a fit of rage and he just started attacking me. Was he expecting me to run? I wasn't about to. If anything, he was just getting in my way.

"Eeek! Guys, please stop fighting!" I heard the spiky haired boy squeal, but his words didn't reach his explosive friend.

"Stop them with your dying will, Tsuna." There was a gunshot behind me. I turned to see what had just happened.

Behind me Tsuna was standing, a flame rising from his forehead. The expression on his face had completely changed and he had these really cool looking gloves with Xs on them. They were on fire just like his head though.

I was genuinely confused. I was wondering why he wasn't screaming his head off and being lame because somehow he set his hair on fire. And hands too. In fact, his face was completely serious. The situation altogether didn't seem to make much sense to me at all. His hands and hair were up in flames, and his face was all cool looking? I swear this couldn't be the same Tsunayoshi who was running around in his boxers because some kid dressed as a cow had just stolen his pants.

In fact he was still in his boxers. I don't know if he was trying to be cool or something, since to me he just looked like an idiot.

Probably not to Gokudera though, since Gokudera's eyes were practically sparkling as he shouted out in admiration, "Tenth!"

He jumped in between us, holding his hands out. "Stop this nonsense," the boy with the flame on his head said with a deeper voice than before, staring me straight in the eye with some sort of determined frown.

Was he really saying that to me? I didn't even get what was going on! I have a guy on fire in his boxers standing right in front of me and he's telling _me _ to stop this nonsense!

"What will telling me to stop do?" I frowned. "He's the one attacking me." I pouted just a little, accusing Gokudera.

Gokudera growled. "But tenth! She's not going to leave!"

"She was going to leave," Tsuna said. "You just stopped her." Gokudera looked rather guilty.

"Look, do you want a fight or something?" I said a little irritated. Gokudera frowned. He seemed to get mad at me for no reason, so he must have been looking for a fight. "I'll fight you if you very so please, but it's not like I'm going to go easy like before."

The silver-haired boy scowled. "Like before! What the hell does that mean!"

"I haven't attacked you once since I got here!" I exclaimed. It took him a minute to register that I was right. "All I've been doing is hitting your attacks back at you and defending myself! If you want me to actually fight, then I will."

Gokudera didn't seem very pleased that I hadn't been trying this entire time. "You're on!"

Tsuna stopped him before he made another move. "Stop it. There's no point in fighting right now."

"Good! I didn't want to hurt you guys anyways. You would have been beat to the ground." I said.

"She's asking for it!" Gokudera shouted. "Why don't you prove her wrong, tenth! Beat her up!"

Tsuna glanced at Gokudera, unsure if he should listen to Gokudera's nonsense.

"I think it's a good idea," the infant with a suit said with a sly smile. "You should battle her, Tsuna."

"We don't need any unnecessary fighting," Tsuna said, determined to keep some peace.

"I… think it's a horrible idea…" Chrome mumbled, finally speaking up after observing for so long. Everyone looked at her. "Kurodo-chan… she's not somebody you should mess around with…." She said quietly.

"Are you doubting the tenth, eyepatch girl!" Gokudera growled. "He can take her down any minute! Won't you tenth?"

"N-no, it's not that I doubt Boss at all. I just don't think that… er… I don't think that it would be smart fighting Kurodo-chan," there was a certain amount of concern in her voice. I wasn't sure if her concern was for me or for Tsuna, or for both of us.

"You should prove yourself, Tsuna." Reborn said, despite Chrome's words. "Prove that you can beat her with your dying will."

"Never challenge a time traveler. But nonetheless, I'll fight you," I said. "But really quick, what's dying will?"

The baby looked at me like he expected me to know already, but he proceeded on to explain the concept. "That there is Tsuna's Hyper Dying Will mode. It's when his inner fighting spirit comes out, and he fights as if he were to die. That's why it's called his dying will."

"I see." I said, trying to make sense of it. I figured that I'd just ask Mukuro when I got back to my time, and maybe he'd explain it a little bit better. I got into a fighting position. "Ready?"

The Hyper Tsuna looked alarmed at my stance. "She's in… a boxing stance?" Tsuna mumbled.

"What of it, Shinuki-kun?" I asked. I figured to call him something other than Tsunayoshi, since the hyper Tsuna in front of me was completely different from the Tsuna I saw a couple of minutes ago. He looked confused at the sudden nickname, but didn't really mind it.

I was in a boxing stance because I was a fist fighter, so obviously I would know how to fight with my fists. Another uncle of mine had taught me how to be a boxer, in case I ever felt like joining boxing or something.

He paused. "Nothing," he said. He readied himself as well. "Stand back everyone," he said to our little audience.

"Beat her down, tenth!" Gokudera cheered enthusiastically.

"Don't get hurt, both of you!" Chrome shouted out to both of us. The cow child seemed distracted and obviously couldn't care less.

"Hey, baby," I said, looking at Reborn. He looked back at me. "Tell us when the match starts."

He nodded with a smile. "Now." He said just a moment after I told him to be our referee. I nodded and charged towards Tsuna and with a flash had punched him square in the face.

Chrome was alarmed. "Her speed..!" she exclaimed. She hadn't seen me fight before.

Gokudera was stunned. "Get back at her, tenth!" he shouted.

Tsuna retaliated quickly, raising his leg to knee me. He managed to knee me in the gut, but I grabbed his leg and swung him around, slamming him into the wall that surrounded his house. It didn't put him out of commission yet, that's for sure, since he got right back up and charged at me with his hands flaming.

I still didn't get the whole idea of the fire and why it didn't hurt him but I figured that it wasn't the time to question anything. I jumped up and out of his way, only to have gravity bring me back down to drop-kick the boy.

He wasn't about to give up just yet, and he got back up. That was one thing admirable about him—his persistence. His will never to give up.

It kept going on like this for a while. He would hit me and I would hit him back twice. I could see him slowly diminishing in his stamina, but he wouldn't give up.

I found it rather disappointing. I hadn't even pulled out my weapons or used illusions, and yet he was still being beat. "Is that all you've got?" I asked.

He panted. "No..." he admitted. I stared at him with a questioning look. We had stopped attacking each other.

The flame on his head burned out, and his gloves turned into a pair of mittens that were white with red 27s on them. "I… don't see a point in fighting you." He said, looking at me with big innocent eyes. They were eyes that belonged to the lame Tsuna, not the eyes of the resilient Shinuki-kun. "I mean… you're not someone I should be fighting. You're not dangerous," he mumbled quietly, as if he shouldn't have been saying those things.

I stared at him. How was I not a dangerous person? He was the one being slammed into the pavement because of… me. I don't know what I was thinking, but I knew I was a dangerous person. Tsuna telling me that I wasn't was… comforting, in some way. It made me feel like I wasn't the bad guy.

Tsuna decided to continue talking because I wasn't saying anything back. "I guess I was holding back because I felt there wasn't a point to hurt you. And I could tell… you were holding back too. You weren't battling with all of your strength, because… I guess you didn't want to hurt me either?" He looked at me with a small smile.

I continued to stare at him. I couldn't really find any words to say. Instead I was staring at him because something about his eyes told me that he _was_ somebody worth protecting. Something about his face in general had a familiar feel. Something rather… nostalgic, I suppose. He was waiting for my response.

After a minute, I finally spoke up. "No. I didn't want to hurt you." Tsuna looked a little bit alarmed that I actually had said that. "My mission was to come here and protect you, the tenth boss of the Vongola Famiglia, Tsunayoshi Sawada."

"E-eeehhh!" Tsuna was shocked. "You didn't come here to kill me!"

"No," I said. "If I did, you'd be dead, and so would your little skylark as well as all of your friends who have gotten in my way." I said a little coldly. It seemed to frighten the boy a little.

"Your mission was to protect… me? From what?" he asked.

"I… don't know," I mumbled. They all stared at me. "I was sent here to find out something… to find out… why…" I started to mumble under my breath.

"Speak up!" Gokudera said. "Why are you here?"

"It doesn't matter," I said after a moment. "I don't think I'm even supposed to be here, specifically. I'm not supposed to be in this era. My… master, I guess, made a mistake." I didn't know what I should have referred to Mukuro as, but to Lock, I suppose master worked well enough.

Gokudera scowled. Chrome looked at me. "Right… you said you were going to leave, didn't you?"

"Right," I said. "I'm going to go home." I said turning around.

"Hey!" Tsuna said. "Are we going to see you again?" It sounded like he actually cared about me. I paused where I stood. "Lock?" he said, in case he didn't catch my attention.

I turned around.

"I… don't know how to get home."


	6. Stop and Think

Chapter 6: Stop and think

I don't know if it's very necessary to say this, but I feel like I should just in case, because I'm losing track of a lot of things back here in the past. I'm not sure what's what anymore, so if I ever need to, I'll look back here.

First, me. My real name is Emilia Lippi, and in fact _not_ Lock Kurodo. According to Mukuro, he's my third biological parent, however in the world that works. Something about possession that I will_ not_ get into. I'll just leave it at possession and let people's minds wonder. Anyways, when I was born I wasn't breathing. My lungs just weren't functioning correctly, and I would have died without ever opening my eyes. Mukuro used illusions to allow me to live up until now. Speaking of seeing, I can't see out of my right eye. I've just always been half blind as far as I can remember. It's not like anyone would know anyways. My aim is perfect because I've never known what it was like to perceive the world with two eyes. My right eye is kind of tinted a light lavender purple I guess. It has this murky color to it that anyone could tell I was blind in that eye. Mukuro put illusions on my eyes so that they were both blue and that I looked normal, but the illusions aren't on when I'm Lock. I have a birthmark very intricately shaped like a skull on my left thigh. It seemed that my real self, Emi, had so many illusions on her hiding the truth that she seemed like the fake one.

This here is my journal. It's a recollection of what has happened so far and what is going to happen in the future—past, whatever. I was never the one to have a dairy, but I guess it's about time for me to start. I've only been in the past about a day, so this is really all I've been through so far.

Lock M. Kurodo does not have family. She was… I guess, born without a mother, and more than obviously doesn't have any siblings. She probably only has Mukuro as a father I suppose.

She was dragged into this whole rotten mafia ordeal by Mukuro's lackeys, Ken and Chikusa. It was like any other day when those two broke into my house, knocking me out, and then kidnapping me. It was because of them that I was forced into the mafia by Mukuro. I have some degree of spite towards them, since I wouldn't be in this whole situation if it weren't for them.

Me as Emi, on the other hand, has a big family. I have a lot of aunts and uncles, but not all of them are really related to me. They're just all really close friends of my family, so it's almost like they're my relatives. I should probably start calling them by their names, huh? That way it wouldn't be so confusing.

There's my mom, Nagi Cold Lippi. She's married to my dad—obviously—Leonardo Lippi. There's Nathan Cold, my mom's brother. Recently I learned that his real name is Mukuro Rokudo, and that he adopted my mom. So that means that my Uncle Nathan is really my Uncle Mukuro, I guess. And does that make my mom Nagi Rokudo Lippi? I wonder. Anyways, I don't think there's a lot to say about them. I love my mom but I don't want her finding out about this stuff Mukuro's gotten me to do. And my dad too, and he's really protective of me. I have an older sister named Jaelin and a younger brother named Andrew. They both have nothing to do with all the dangers I'm involved in. Mukuro told me it was because I was special, and that I was the only one who could do it. What kinda crap is that?

Uncle Nathan, or Mukuro, whatever, was always the one who would hold me when my mom and dad weren't there. In fact, he was always here to hold any of us up when we felt like we were going to fall. It was like he was the one thing holding us up, and if he disappeared or if something happened to him, we all wouldn't be here. He was, in fact, some part of us. Mukuro… he seemed different from Nathan. Nathan would smile and laugh, and have nothing but fun when it came to anything, even playing with his food. Mukuro was the same I guess, but had something he was aiming for and that look in his eye that gives people the feeling that you should back off. There was something much more welcoming about Nathan. Well, in the end, they were the same person. One thing is for sure, he never took anything for granted. He went through his day as if it were his last, he never forgot to thank the chef for his food, he would always greet people with a smile, and he would never forget to show his family just how much he cared. Certainly that's admirable. I guess that's what happens when you go through a childhood like his. He is the one who will always put his family first. When he hugs me, it feels like he'll never let go. And—even though right now, it seems like I hate him more than ever—I hope he never does.

I mentioned my Uncle Harry before. He's the one who owns the cat named Uri, and had the same face as the adult Gokudera. He's a really nice guy, but he gets a little violent and temperamental sometimes. He taught me to use my brain and plan stuff out before I do something, since just going right off the bat wasn't going to help in any case. He was a very formal guy. He was really good at playing the piano, even if I've only ever heard him play it three or four times. He's a really serious and intimidating guy to everyone else, but he never scared me. I've always thought that he was the coolest person ever, even cooler than Uncle Nathan. I thought that sure, maybe he was a little bit of a bad influence with the way he dressed on those casual days and his habit of smoking his cigarettes, but that shouldn't make him a bad person. It's just a part of him, right?

The uncle that taught me how to use my fists to fight is my Uncle Ron. He's a boxer. He's the one who taught me to live my life as if it were to end the next minute—"to the extreme," he would say. Uncle Ron and Uncle Harry aren't related to me. Uncle Ron isn't really around often. He's often around the world on boxing tour or something like that. It makes me wonder why he always comes back completely fine, and if his nose is permanently broken or something since he always has that bandage plastered across the bridge of it. He never has any cuts or bruises and he just said that he just heals really quickly. I personally think he'd be a great doctor if he wasn't so rough on people.

Another one of my uncles is my Uncle Ryan. He an idiot sometimes, but he's really a nice guy. He's kind of unheard of; most of my uncles and aunt know each other, but they don't know a lot about Uncle Ryan. Uncle Nathan—I mean, Mukuro—and my mom know a lot about him because he's their brother. He's younger than my mom, I think. He doesn't really visit but when he does it's always really fun. He never asks questions even though sometimes I can tell that he's confused and never gets what's going on. He's really gullible too. He believes almost anything anyone says, like if someone said that they saw a ghost behind him he'd freak out. He's not dumb enough to believe that elephants can fly with their ears; at least, I hope he isn't that dumb. Maybe a reason he's so dumb and gullible is because he doesn't ask questions to clarify things? I have no clue.

The uncle that really taught me how to fight was the scary one, Uncle Kass. He's not at all a talkative person, and he's also really violent. He usually gets whatever he wants, too. He hates Uncle Nathan—I mean, Mukuro… I think I'll just keep calling him Nathan, because that's what I know him as anyways—and he raised me to grow up to be stronger than him, so that eventually one day in the future I'd be able to beat Uncle Nathan up or something of the sort. I don't know why he took such a liking to me though. He hates Uncle Nathan so much and I take after him, almost as if I'm a mini version of him. I guess maybe it was just something about me that he liked. Honestly, I don't think Uncle Kass hates Uncle Nathan, but maybe it's some sort of friendly rivalry. Kass is actually, somewhat surprisingly, one of my closest uncles. He really has a soft spot when it comes to animals and cute things. He always told me to get up when I fell down, and to never show my fear to the world.

Uncle Timmy is a fun loving guy. He taught me that hate means nothing, except for the fact that love wouldn't exist without it. He would, by all means, make everything fun and make it all a game in some way. Sometimes it's like he doesn't know when to stop joking, but at the same time, he'll get serious when he really needs to. He always has a smile on his face, and he never fails to laugh at just about anything. Sometimes he acts like an idiot but it always ends up that he's one step ahead of everyone else. He's the one that told me that friendship really does mean everything. He told me that friendship and love are powers that are stronger than anything else, no matter how cheesy it may seem. He told me that they can save lives and never to stop believing in the people you love, since eventually, they'll pull through.

Uncle Lambert is a cool guy. He's a womanizer though. He charms almost all of the girls he meets. I don't really get it myself, but I think it's the way he talks to them or his looks. He has a really good fashion sense, and he's always wearing something that has to do with cows. It's a nice little theme he has going on, I guess. Even if he's cool, he's also one of the silliest ones. Uncle Lambert is the one who still dresses up on Halloween, and I think he still believes in Santa Claus. He's the one who taught me never to cry, and if I do, to stop crying and take a deep breath. He told me to endure the pain, since I'll get stronger from it. He told me that it was never a bad thing to look up to somebody and learn from them, and that I should learn from my own mistakes as well as others.

I keep talking about my uncles don't I? I guess that's because I'm not nearly as close to my aunts as I am to my uncles. I don't even think that's all of my uncles either! I guess I'll talk about them when they come along. Anyways, I guess I'll talk a little about my aunts.

One of my aunts knows martial arts and taught me. Her name is Li-Mei. She's very skilled at what she does, and she told me that she was doing martial arts ever since she was five. That pretty crazy! She's best friends with Uncle Lambert since they're probably the youngest out of all of my aunts and uncles. She's a really nice and a diligent person. She always said she wouldn't teach me anything until I had all of my studies done. She made sure I was doing well in school so that I could go to a nice college. She taught me lots of discipline, and she taught me how to fight for self defense and not violence.

Two of my other aunts are Holly and Karol. They're the one who told me to always speak up and speak out. They told me to get my opinion out because what I think matters, and how words are really powerful things. They said words are one of your strongest weapons since they're the things that can hurt the most when you're in a battle, and they're the things that can help the most when you're in a battle. They're the things that you can give when there isn't anything else you can do. Holly is a rather energetic woman who's quite affectionate. She's always been an oddball, but somehow she's still very lovable. Karol is the caring one and she seems like a princess sometimes. She's a little fragile, but she always does her best to cheer everybody on.

Oh, how could I forget? One of my favorite uncles is my Uncle David. He was the one who always encouraged me in whatever I did, and always helped me get back on the horse when I fell down. He told me never to give up in anything I did. He taught me to put aside differences and simply to try to get along with anyone else. He's the one who always helped to bandage me up when I got hurt. He understood me. Uncle David was always there for me and for everyone else. But… now he's gone. It's not like he's dead, he just isn't here anymore. He disappeared off the face of the earth maybe five years ago, before I turned ten. There isn't somebody like him to help me get back up and help bandage up a wound anymore.

In fact, there isn't anyone like that in this time and place. At least, I don't think so.

This place I'm in is so foreign and strange. It's scary. I don't know anything. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know why I'm here. I don't know who I am. I don't know how to get home. And god, I miss home.


	7. Homerun

Chapter Seven: Homerun

It hit me like I was a baseball and some idiot decided to hit me suddenly with his bat, getting a homerun for their team. I was some abandoned baseball that nobody was going to bother picking up because they were too busy caring about what they won instead of what they had lost.

I turned around. "I… don't know how to get home," I said, rather dumbfounded.

My statement seemed to make Tsuna and the others a bunch of staring idiots too. "What?" the spiky-haired boy asked, to make sure he heard me correctly.

"I don't know how to get home." I almost felt like crying, but I held it in. It wasn't really the right time to be weak.

Tsuna stared. "Uhhh…" he obviously didn't know what to do.

I was panicking inside. What was I supposed to do now? I wasn't even in the right time era, so I obviously couldn't find any information regarding my mission. Everyone here probably hates me—I've been a complete and total jerk to everyone I've talked to so far in this time. I called Mukuro a wimp, I beat the skylark to the ground, I didn't consent to Gokudera's requests, I made the little cow cry, and I insulted and also beat up Tsunayoshi. Things obviously weren't going very well here, and now I was stuck?

I wanted to go home. I missed home. I missed being around normal stuff, not around a guy running around on fire in his underwear—which, by the way, he still was in his boxers. I missed being a normal kid dreaming about being the hero of my own story, not the villain of somebody else's. I missed my mom. I missed Uncle Nathan. And god, how I hate Uncle Nathan so much right now.

It's his fault I'm stuck here in the past with no way back to the future. It's his fault that Lock Kurodo even exists. It's all his fault and I'm stuck with this burden. I'm the one who has to hold back my tears because crying is useless. I'm the one who has to hide back their fears because it'll only make me weaker. I'm the one who has to protect people because if I don't, I know they'll get hurt and I don't want that. I'm starting to wonder, who was it who was protecting me all this time? Who was the one who always made sure I didn't get hurt? I don't know. Maybe I didn't even have someone like that. I was on my own. Was it my fault that I got myself stuck here? Yeah, it probably is.

I don't know when or why it had happened, but the next thing I knew was that Tsuna was holding me tight in his scrawny little arms, and I was crying. I was crying because I missed the place I called home. At least, I thought I was crying because of that just minutes ago. When he hugged me and let me cry into his shirt, I was crying because the feeling of his hug was so… nostalgic that it only made me cry more and more. The way he hugged me…

I felt my hands clutching onto his back, holding tight. He seemed surprised that I hugged him back. I wasn't sure, but it felt like the whole world was looking at us. If it wasn't the whole world, it was at least Gokudera and everyone around us, watching me cry. But it's not like I even cared at that point. All I wanted to do was cry right there since this whole time in the past has been some sort of living hell, some sort of nightmare and maybe a hug was everything I needed to know that there was at least _somebody_ who would hold me and help me get through this.

God, how much I wanted to say "I miss you" to him. I don't even know why. I've only met Tsuna an hour ago. I couldn't have possibly missed him if I didn't even know him long enough to miss, right? Unless…

"H-hey… now, come on, don't cry…" he said in lame attempts to make me feel better. He sounded nervous, most likely he's never had to deal with a girl crying.

I only cried harder because everything about him was something so close to home that it made me miss home more. The way he said it made me realize the one thing that I hadn't been able to see clearly the whole entire time.

Everyone, absolutely everyone here, are the very people who have raised me to be who I am. Uncle Nathan was Mukuro, that was the first clue. Uncle Harry? I'd already found out he was Gokudera. Uncle Kass? He was that hateful skylark. I had no clue who Chrome was in my life, but Mukuro did say that she dropped out of existence, so she must have died. Well, who wouldn't when they didn't have a stomach! Tsunayoshi… he was my Uncle David. The one who went missing for five years. The one who always frowned at everything Uncle Nathan would do. The one that Uncle Nathan would listen to. The one that I was sent to find. The one who would hold me and help me get back up whenever I fell. Unknowingly, this here was my family.

"I miss you…" I mumbled into his shoulder, muffled with tears.

He perked up. "Wh-what?"

"I… I miss…" I hiccupped. I couldn't bring myself to say it again. They were all staring at me. "I… I miss home…" I said.

He didn't know what to say and continued to let me sob into his shoulder. I felt somebody, a girl, hug me from behind. Tsuna must have been surprised to, since I felt him move to see who it was.

"Shh… it's okay, Kurodo-chan," I heard the gentle voice whispering into my ear. "You can come home with us. It doesn't matter where you are, but if you're around people who love you, then you're home, right?" My sobbing was becoming quieter as Chrome whispered those comforting words into my ear.

Who in this time loved me though? Where could home be? That was probably a dumb question, but Chrome seemed to read my mind and answer me. "Kurodo-chan, we love you. Or, if there is no we, there's me. I love you, even if I don't know who you are, so I'll be the person you can come home with, okay?"

I finally looked up from Tsuna's shoulder and slowly surveyed everyone. They were all staring at me. Tsuna seemed glad that I had stopped crying so he had a small smile on his face. I finally turned to Chrome and hugged her.

"…okay…" I said to her. She didn't move, just continued to hold me. It was after a moment that felt like some sort of eternity that I let go of her and she let go of me. I started to wipe my face dry of all the tears I cried.

"Are you okay?" Tsuna asked.

"I'm sorry…" I said. The whole group looked at me. I continued on. "I'm sorry. I'm causing you all so much trouble. I didn't mean to. You probably all hate me. I'm sorry."

"We don't hate you." Tsuna said. I perked up and stared at him. Those words… made me happy I guess.

"Kurodo-chan, do you want to go home right now?" Chrome asked. "I mean, back to Kokuyou Land with me."

"No," I answered almost immediately. Chrome looked at me with a confused expression. "I just… uh… er… Mukuro…" I mumbled.

Chrome tilted her head innocently. "What?"

"Well… he hates me now, doesn't he? He tried to kill me. I'm not about to go back there…" I mumbled. For some reason I felt a little bit guilty. It was my fault that the younger version of my favorite uncle hated me and it was a bit late to take it back now, was it?

Chrome stared at me. "…ah… I see. I'll… talk to him, I guess." I looked at the ground.

"Well… you can come inside for a while, then," Tsuna said, trying to be polite. "If it's Chrome, then it probably won't take long for her to settle things with Mukuro. You can come inside my house for a little."

I stared at him incredulously. "Um… no, I don't want to be a bother…" I mumbled.

"No, it's okay. I insist. I don't want a friend to have no place to sleep. If things don't work out with Mukuro, you can stay here with me." He smiled nervously, like he wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do.

I stared at him. I didn't know what to say. He stared back with the dorky smile of his. I started to laugh a little at him, which made his smile turn into a confused face wondering if he really did do something wrong.

It reminded me too much of when he was older. I remember when I was little, whenever I would go to stay with Uncle Nathan, he told me "If you ever feel like you want to run away from your Uncle Nathan, you can always stay here with me." It never failed to make me smile. I would always say "Okay."

"Okay," I said, like I always would, with a small giggle that was nothing like that idiotic little "kufufu" Mukuro does. He smiled, kind of confused of why I was laughing all of the sudden, but I think he was at least glad that I wasn't crying anymore.

"A-alright then…" he mumbled. He looked a little panicked. "Uh… er, come in then?"

I smiled. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"I… I've never actually invited anyone to stay over at my house before…" he mumbled, "Much less a girl…"he said below his breath.

"I'm sorry if I'm being a bother then," I apologized. "I'll find my way home as soon as possible."

We were walking inside his house and I sat down on his couch. Gokudera followed us in as well as Chrome. Chrome was sitting next to me looking deep in thought and Gokudera was sitting across from me, glaring at me.

"How did you even get here to start?" Gokudera growled. "Maybe if you just retrace your steps back…"

"That stupid idiot sent me back in time with his own powers and forgot to tell me how to get back home. It's not as easy as retracing my steps," I said, a little upset.

"Who's that stupid idiot?" Gokudera asked.

"Why don't you find him in this time and ask him to send you back to the future, then?" Chrome asked.

I decided to ignore Gokudera and answer Chrome. "That's because he doesn't know how to control time in this era. He won't be able to help." I said. Gokudera got angry because I ignored what he asked.

"That's okay," Tsuna said. "You'll find a way home soon." He said with a smile.

It was reassuring in a way, but I was still wondering,_ 'Will I?'_ I was worried. Just how long would I be gone from home?

"Tsukkun! I'm home!" The voice of an older woman shouted out.

"Ah! Welcome home, mom!" Tsuna greeted her as she came in through the door. "I hope you don't mind that I invited somebody over…"

"Oh, no, it's great!" She said ecstatically. "I'm so happy you're making so many friends!"

"Ah… thanks mom…" Tsuna mumbled.

She approached me. "You must be the person Tsukkun invited over? Hello!" she smiled warmly. "My name is Nana Sawada."

"Oh… hello, Mrs. Sawada," I said with a nervous smile.

"Oh? You two look a lot alike!" she pointed out, looking between me and Chrome. "Are you sisters?"

I laughed a little, like Mukuro this time. "Kufufu…uh… no. My name is Lock Kurodo and that's Chrome Dokuro. We're not related."

"Oh my, I'm sorry then!" she giggled a little bit. "Well, make yourself at home! Dinner is up soon." She departed to the kitchen to put away the groceries she had brought in, humming a happy little tune.

I smiled politely, and some sort of sadness overcame me. She made me miss my own mom. And something about not being related to Chrome didn't feel right. I felt like I was lying.

"Oh, Tsukkun! I forgot to tell you, one of your other friends is here too!" Nana announced from the kitchen.

Tsuna perked up. "What? Who is it?"

"Where do I put the bags, Mrs. Sawada?" the boy who came through the door was holding many grocery bags. He was tall and he had short dark hair and a dumb smile.

"Right over here, thank you!~" Nana called. The boy smiled and came over to set the bags down.

"Ah.. Yamamoto…" Tsuna said, as if he was almost expecting it.

"Yo, Tsuna!" The boy grinned. He looked friendly. "Just thought I'd drop by! I was helping out your mom with bringing in the groceries."

"Oh, thanks." Tsuna smiled.

"Who's this?" He asked. He approached me with a broad smile on his face that didn't falter.

"Oh, that's Lock. She's… uh, Chrome's friend, I guess?"

"Hi there!" He said with a smile, and it felt like he was the first one not to immediately hate me. "My name is Yamamoto Takeshi. Do you like to play baseball?"

Baseball, huh?

Certainly he was the one that went to go retrieve the ball that flew out of the park, when nobody else cared to.


End file.
